2008 a journey through the blog...

Another exciting year is coming to an end and on the last day it is worthwhile to take a look back on the series of events that unfolded.

January is always an exciting month a new year is starting and there is new energy, new dreams and new hopes. You always feel full of life in January and probably get the most done in this month. In 2008 I saw Tare Zameen Par in January and it was all about not killing your self belief for the world. An excellent thought to kick-start the year.

2008 will be remembered for the Coldest night in Mumbai (for once Mumbai was cooler than Delhi in winters) but it was a beautiful cold night. While the weather Gods were trying to keep Mumbai cool in February there were people who were getting heated up and creating ruckus in Mumbai over Marathi and Non Marathi status, shaking views of some while other stuck to their views.

The year started with an excellent Barcamp in Pune. The month of February was also when I chose to ask many questions and seek some answers. It was quite an eventful month :)

March follwed on the footsteps of February and I continued my exploration, sometimes by the gut feeling and in dreams at other times. March was also about meeting fellow bloggers in Pune and in Mumbai and also trying out different camps. Meeting the bloggers also made me realize the importance of blogging in Hindi, our national language.

April was really fun, except the No Honking Day, a concept beyond Mumbaikars. Funny I say that as I completed my 2 years in Mumbai in April, I am also a Mumbaikar now; so a concept that is beyond me as well ;). In April I decided not to fall but sometimes it is destiny.

May started with a session on Blogging for the students. I also started using pics and videos in my blog. There were times that I wish I get to experience every year!


June was the month of excitement and travelling. It all started with a visit to the Nerul Stadium for the final of the Super Successful IPL. I beleive T20 is the future of Cricket and the change is good for the Cricket.The T20 was followed by a bloggers meet in Mumbai and Bloggers Lunch in Pune. Also on that trip to Pune I had a chance to interact with the students of SICSR about Business Analysis in a Guest Lecture which was great. I had a chance to visit Nashik as well and it is a very beautiful city. After an amazing trip to Nashik I was off to Hyderabad and I got to visit ISB Hyderabd, super awesome place! It was a hectic but great month, I tried leaving a trail behind but I guess someone up there was watching me.

July was the month I decided to go offline for a complete week. It was an amazing experience to stay away from my laptop for a week. This effect carried on in August and September as well. I decided to go for a backing trip away from my computer and it was such a wonderful experience.

September also saw Capgemini waking up to the concept of Barcamp and it was a really good experience to be part of it. But this post on Barcamp Capgemini costed me a friend. September is also a month of festivals in Mumbai and I love that time of year in Mumbai. The Ganesh Visarjan was such a good experience. I was off to Pune afte the festivals to attend the biggest unconference of India, PHPCamp and it was worth it. The down side of September was fighting with plagiarism.

October was about dreams and friends. In November I shifted to London and most of the time I was settling in the UK. December was about finding the reasons not to love London and eventually ending up loving it. More than that December was about asking questions that are not easy to answer.

The 2008 was eventful and a great year. I wish 2009 be even more eventful and even more exciting. To everyone who is reading it, I wish you a Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true in 2009 and may you see more dreams in 2009!!

Tarun Chandel
Happy New Year!